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U.S. Sets Roster for Olympic Qualifying

By Jack Bell March 13, 2012 6:49 pmMarch 13, 2012 6:49 pm

Regional qualifying for a berth in the London Olympics starts later this month, but United States under-23 national team coach Caleb Porter still has some spade work to do in filling the final spot on his 20-man roster.

The American team will open play in Nashville against Cuba on March 22. El Salvador and Canada are also in the Americans’ first-round group. The top two teams in each of the two first-round groups — the other group has Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago — will advance to the semifinals on March 31 at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. The two semifinal winners earn Olympic berths from the Concacaf region. The regional final will be played on April 2.

On Monday, Porter released the names of the 19 players who began training Tuesday. A spot became vacant when midfielder Dilly Duka of the Columbus Crew injured a hamstring in a Major League Soccer match last weekend and Hertha Berlin of Germany’s Bundesliga balked at releasing Alfredo Morales for the qualifying matches. According to FIFA rules, club teams are not obliged to release players for Olympic qualifying. Tournament rules make the Olympics an under-23 tournament, though all participating teams are allowed to include three overage players. On Tuesday, Porter added Tony Taylor to the roster. Taylor, a striker, plays in Portugal for Estoril Praia.

Mike Stone/ReutersCaleb Porter, the coach of the U.S. men’s under-23 national team.

“We’re very excited to be reaching the final stage of our preparation going into qualifying,” Porter said during a telephone conference call Tuesday. “This has been a long process for four months, four camps. We’ve had a lot of players in our camps and now we’re reaching the final stages. I’m very excited and very confident in this group. I’m very aware of the past history of the national team being in Nashville. Crowds have been very good here and we expect nothing different at this year’s qualifying. We’re looking forward to getting on the pitch March 22, on our home soil, and we need the support of our U.S. fans here to get our team to London.”

Striker Juan Agudelo, who started for the Red Bulls on Sunday in their season-opening loss to Dallas, is again back with the under-23 team, which leaves the Red Bulls painfully thin at forward. Agudelo played 14 times for the senior national team in 2011.

All rosters for the qualifying tournament must be finalized by next Tuesday.

The United States team’s matches will all be televised live on Universal Sports Network and NBC Sports Network. Universal will carry the three first-round matches from LP Field in Nashville: vs. Cuba, 9 p.m. (all times Eastern), March 22; vs. Canada, 7 p.m., March 24 and vs. El Salvador, 9 p.m., March 26. If the Americans advance, the NBC Sports Network will carry the semifinal from Livestrong Sporting Park on March 31 at 9 p.m. The final will be on Universal on April 2 at 8 p.m., though both team will already have locked up their Olympic trips before it kicks off.

All the matches in the qualifying tournament will be streamed live at Concacaf.com.

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